Students finalize project, prepare for final presentation

The Downtown Revitalization Project, put on by University of Oklahoma graduate students, will wrap up on Dec. 10.

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By Carmen Bourlon

The Shawnee News-Star

By Carmen Bourlon

Posted Nov. 24, 2012 at 6:00 AM

By Carmen Bourlon

Posted Nov. 24, 2012 at 6:00 AM

SHAWNEE

The Downtown Revitalization Project, put on by University of Oklahoma graduate students, will wrap up on Dec. 10.

The final product will be shared with the community at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 10 at First Baptist Church in Shawnee.

Currently, the students are still working on the final report, Blair Humphreys, executive director of the Institute for Quality Communities, said.

The Institute for Quality Communities worked with and taught graduate students during this project. The students actually created the project as a part of a class.

“We’re just taking all the work we’ve done and combining it with the input we’ve received,” Humphreys said.

During their semester, students hosted several events around Shawnee to try to gather information on what citizens would like to see downtown look like. Additionally students did research on what downtown was like previously.

“I think the broader thinking is that in downtown Shawnee, a lot of work has already been done,” Humphreys said.

He declined to give any more details about the results of the project, other than to say the students enjoyed their time in town.

“It’s kind of bittersweet to have to wrap up a process like this,” Humphreys said.

He added that the students know the hardest part of the plan is yet to come.

“We know after we leave, there will be a lot of people who stick around and do the difficult work of making this happen,” Humphreys said.